Wilhelmina “Billie” Goodson (1907-74), a veteran of Ma Rainey’s and Bessie Smith’s touring revues, arrived in New Orleans from her native Florida in 1929. In 1935 she married Joseph DeLacrois “DeDe” Pierce (1904-73), and for the next 40 years they teamed to produce the kind of intimate, blues-saturated music heard on this album and its companion (OBCCD-534-2). The program balances DeDe’s direct, probing cornet work with Billie’s passionate and often salty vocals and piano. Albert Jiles, on drums and tuned bells, provides the lone accompaniment for the pair in a set that characterizes the music heard in New Orleans’ smaller venues.